D.C. officials on Thursday denied a challenge to a medical marijuana dispensary opening just steps away from a Northwest preschool, highlighting tensions between the city’s budding cannabis industry and residents who fear children could get prematurely exposed to drugs.Green Theory dispensaryGreen Theory owner Jonathan Crandall said the dispensary will open for business on Monday. The grand opening is planned for April 27.
The ABCA’s ruling left a sour taste in the mouths of parents who sparred with the city over the now-finalized location. A coalition of residents from the neighbors protested last month that the dispensary’s MacArthur Boulevard location should not be allowed to open because it violates both federal and local laws barring medical marijuana dispensaries from operating near schools.
But the measure failed in a 6-6 vote, with Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, at large independent, saying that it’s too drastic a change to make for just two businesses. Chairman Phil Mendelson explained resistance to the measure by saying local lawmakers would be “changing the rules in the middle of the process.” He said the council, after setting the medical cannabis policy, would be pulling the rug out from businesses by remaking the rules.